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Huawei gets reprieve as Trump aides fail to agree on restrictions

Bloomberg A US proposal to further restrict sales to China-based Huawei Technologies Co has encountered objections within the Trump administration and is being held up as officials debate whether the step could harm exporters, a person familiar with the process said. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said new rules coming soon will put more limits on technology sales to Huawei, which ...

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Singapore’s home prices up 0.5% in Q4

Bloomberg Singapore private home prices rose just 0.5% in the final quarter of 2019, with the slowdown reflecting the lingering impact of government curbs more than a year after they were imposed. The rise was slightly higher than the preliminary estimate of a 0.3% gain, data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority show-ed, and compared with a 1.3% expansion in the ...

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In HK, choosing restaurants is a political act

Bloomberg In deciding where to dine out in Hong Kong these days, many local residents are turning to a Yelp-like mobile app: Not for reviews of food or service, but to separate “yellow” from “blue” eateries. After more than seven months of unrest, even choosing a restaurant has become political in Hong Kong. Of 3,000 eateries listed on the app, ...

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Can Wall Street save us from climate change?

Climate change has come to Wall Street in the guise of Larry Fink. For those who don’t know, Fink runs BlackRock, a $7 trillion collection of investment funds consisting of stocks, bonds and other securities. Fink is a global opinion-maker, and he believes that worldwide climate change is driving “a fundamental reshaping of finance.” This is, or could be, a ...

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The iron ore party draws to a close

Iron ore had a carousing 2019 — for all the wrong reasons. A fatal dam collapse in Brazil, followed by a tropical cyclone in Australia, battered production and sent prices to their highest level in five years. Early figures from BHP Group and Rio Tinto Group show just how much benefit both have reaped. With supply coming back, Chinese mills ...

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HK risks squandering its Alibaba dividend

Hong Kong is missing an opportunity to displace the US as an offshore listing venue for Chinese companies by keeping trading fees too high. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s $11 billion offering in November showed the potential for the city’s stock exchange to attract US-listed mainland enterprises amid an unsettled trade relationship between the two largest economies. Relatively expensive costs threaten ...

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Trump’s French trade truce puts off the battle

Who said Davos doesn’t make a difference? As world leaders, business executives and cheerleaders for the planet descended on the Swiss resort for the annual World Economic Forum, one diplomatic victory was being chalked up on the sidelines: A presidential truce between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron over France’s plan to tax tech companies, which the US says discriminates against ...

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‘No-deal’ Brexit is finally back as a real possibility

The UK-European Union trade talks haven’t started officially, but both sides are testing out negotiating lines. Britain is already colouring some of them red, setting up a fight later this year that will encompass the three Fs: fish, financial services and the freedom to diverge from EU rules. To use another f-word, all three issues are fraught. But it’s the ...

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Netflix is starting to feel the heat

Disney+ and other new streaming-TV apps are starting to nip at Netflix Inc.’s heels. While that means Netflix will have an even tougher time enticing new users, its streaming imitators aren’t giving subscribers reason enough to cancel the tried-and-true service. For the first time ever, Netflix has serious competition, and fourth-quarter results offered a first glimpse at what that might ...

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